Originally published in 1945 (four years after Fitzgerald’s early death at age 45), and reprinted numerous times since, The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald is a peek behind the curtain of literature’s magic.
The 2,078 entries in this volume are the entirety contained in the author’s two writer’s notebooks, now housed in the Princeton library, where Fitzgerald was an undergraduate. Ranging in length from a single word to several-hundred word passages, they are divided into 23 alphabetized categories, which is just one of the interesting aspects here.
Exhibiting some imagination, even in the privacy of his office, Fitzgerald managed to cover all the necessary categories with the alphabet (omitting Q, X, & Z), from A (“anecdotes”) to Y (“youth & army”). Among the others include: “Conversations & things overheard”, “Feelings & emotions”, “Karacters,” “Nonsense & stray phrases,” “Titles,” “Vernacular,”.
Fitzgerald's Notebooks Used for Short Story & Novel Inspiration
Editor of the later editions, Matthew J. Bruccoli, who was considered the “preeminent expert” on F. Scott Fitzgerald, determined that these entries and the two notebooks from which they came were only begun around 1932, well into the author’s career. They were used primarily for his short stories and last two novels.
Indeed, much of Fitzgerald’s best work was behind him by this time. It begs the question, what was left out (or unfound) from the 1920’s, when he was writing The Beautiful and the Damned and The Great Gatsby? It is not known whether Scott even kept a notebook during that period.
What makes a writer’s notebook interesting, worth publication? For starters, it gives those familiar with his work insight into the composition process. The “editorial and explanatory notes” section at the back of the volume cross-references as many of the entries with their published companions as often as possible. In some cases they are progressions, in others, they are segments pulled from abandoned stories for later use by the author.
Fitzgerald's Notebooks Provide an Example for Writers Today
The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald as a whole can serve as a blueprint for writers looking to establish an inspirational process, or an aid to “writer’s block.” While some of Fitzgerald’s categories (ala “Descriptions of girls”) may be out of date, in general, a categorized writer’s notebook is an invaluable tool. Fitzgerald’s is as extensive an example as one could find.
Beyond those more “useful” aspects, many of these snippets are just interesting to read. Some examples:
- “She first discovered love in her throat.”
- “Young people do not perceive that the giver of the wound is the enemy and the quoted tattle merely the arrow.”
- “A dignity that would have been heavy, save that behind it and carefully overlaid with gentleness, something bitter and bored showed through.”
- “Family explained or Damned by its dog.”
- “Her eyes shone at Bill with friendly interest, and then, just before the car shot away, she did something else with them –narrowed them a little and then widened them, recognizing by this sign the uniqueness of their relationship. ‘I see you’ it seemed to say. ‘You registered. Everything’s possible.’ “.
Notebooks Show Fitzgerald Understood His Craft Well
In his introduction to The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew Bruccoli states that, of all the impressive qualities to the notebooks, “the dominant impression is of Fitzgerald’s literary intelligence.” He goes on to say that the image of Fitzgerald as “an ignorant genius who did not understand his craft” (one that was only enhanced by his lifestyle) is most certainly proven wrong with these notebooks.
The reader who is familiar with Fitzgerald’s work, and who compares this volume with it, will undoubtedly come to the same conclusion. Likewise, those who have little interest in these types of comparisons may find The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald equally satisfying.
Bruccoli, Matthew J., The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald, (1945) 1980, Harvest, Harcourt Brace, New York, 357 pages. (ISBN: 0-15-667362-2)
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